7. From Pythagoras to Newton to Marie Curie to good old Bill Nye, there is nothing so contagious and engaging as human ingenuity and curiosity.

8. Finally, because science is a rigorous, sometimes thankless, grinding effort that can – and often does – produce actual, verifiable facts. For example, that the earth revolves around the sun, that bacteria and viruses can cause infection, and that climate change is occurring. These are facts., and I’m stickin’ to ’em.